National Basketball Association

Altered Image

Updated Jul. 17, 2020 8:05 p.m. ET

We knew Dennis Rodman liked to party and grab rebounds.

We knew Michael Jordan was a maniacal competitor, obsessed with winning and gambling.

But no player has had more light shed on their career and their persona in The Last Dance than Scottie Pippen.

Pippen is one of the game's greats who was often overshadowed by the game's greatest.

He won six championships in Chicago alongside Michael Jordan. He was a 7-time All-Star and won the All-Star Game MVP the year after Jordan's first retirement. He was a 3-time All-NBA First Team selection and 8-time NBA All-Defensive First Team selection. He won Olympic gold medals in 1992 – as a member of the Dream Team – and in 1996.

However, The Last Dance isn't reminding us as much of Pippen's incredible on-court career as it is his struggles with the Bulls organization.

It started in Episode 2, when we learned more about Pippen postponing an offseason surgery because he was upset with his contract, causing him to miss almost half of the 1997-98 season.

Remember this infamous quote?

And then, this past weekend in Episode 7, the docuseries touched on the most infamous moment of Pippen's career, when he refused to leave the bench in the final moments of Game 3 of the 1994 Eastern Conference Semifinals.

While Jordan was off playing baseball, Pippen had a breakout year in 1993-94, filling the role of Chicago's superstar leader.

Pippen carried the Bulls to a 55-win regular season and a second round playoff matchup with the New York Knicks.

With the Bulls trailing the Knicks 2-0 in the series, the score was tied with 1.8 seconds left on the clock in Game 3. Bulls coach Phil Jackson called a play for then-rookie Toni Kukoc, much to the chagrin of Pippen, who refused to enter the game for the final play.

Kukoc would go on to make the game-winning jumpshot.

Despite the Bulls emerging with the win, the damage was done. Pippen's teammates were disappointed with his decision and what ensued was an emotional moment in the Chicago locker room.

In Episode 7, Pippen said that even in retrospect, he wouldn't have changed his decision.

Former Bulls point guard B.J. Armstrong elaborated on the incident.

"I understand where [Scottie] was coming from ... I can only imagine what that felt like."

But some who relived the moment via The Last Dance were not so understanding, including Stephen A. Smith, who thinks Pippen is not being portrayed in a positive light in the docuseries.

"In Episode 2, we see Scottie Pippen admitting that he delayed his surgery ... because his attitude is he was being underpaid by the Bulls ... Then, in 1994, you refuse to check into a game when Phil calls the last play for Toni Kukoc ... I don't think he looks good in this docuseries at all."

While lauding Pippen as a player, Doug Gottlieb believes that Scottie's contract dispute, his putting off surgery before the 1997-98 season and his refusal to check into a playoff game all point to one thing: Scottie was a selfish teammate.

"These things can be true: Scottie Pippen can be an incredibly unselfish basketball player. Great alongside Michael Jordan. But he can be a very, very selfish teammate ... Scottie didn't have any major flaws as a player ... Why wouldn't they give him a long-term deal? Game 7 against the [Detroit] Pistons – has a migraine. Win a couple titles and Jordan goes away – takes himself out of the deciding part of a playoff game. And then, doesn't get surgery until right before the [1997-98] season ... Would you get into business long-term with a guy like that?"

However, there are those that think Pippen is getting a raw deal in The Last Dance.

Michael Wilbon used to cover the Bulls during his days as a reporter and said Sunday that he feels bad for the coverage of Pippen's mistakes then and even moreso now.

"1.8 seconds is a bad moment in time, but he had so many great moments. I've apologized to Scottie. I was one of those people writing columns at the time and I went to far ... He is not to be judged by only that when there are so many spectacular moments by which to judge him."

Jackie MacMullan piggybacked on Wilbon's point, commenting that The Last Dance hasn't done Pippen justice in highlighting his greatness as a player.

"I just don't know what people expect from Scottie Pippen ... He immediately, after the game, knew he made a mistake. In tears, in the locker room, apologized to his teammates ... He was one of the five greatest players in the league at that time ... and yet, we're not seeing enough of that in this documentary."

In Pippen's defense, the most famous play of his career happened the very next game and it was barely mentioned on Sunday.

And Scottie's former teammates, like Armstrong, are to this day coming to his defense as a player and teammate.

And there you have it – even Jordan's teammates are compared to LeBron.